At the end of the 1990's, the electric bike was launched on the market in Europe. It became more and more popular with about 750,000 sales in 2009 and an estimated 1,000,000 sales throughout Europe in 2010. The electric bike assures mobility of elderly people and people with health problems however car drivers, parents, shoppers, tourists are also attracted to it.
Using the electric bike has its positive effects on mobility, health and environment. It makes you drive longer distances, leads to a healthy/healthier body weight and helps to decrease CO2 emissions. As the electric bike has enormous potential in the European Union, dealers, manufacturers, importers and bicycle repairers play a crucial role in informing people on electric bicycles and persuading them of the advantages of this innovation. Nowadays, there is dissatisfaction amongst e-bike users related to range, performance, weight, price, servicing and repair costs. To avoid this dissatisfaction, the products and their range need to be diversified following the different user categories. Dealers and bike repairers should be able to advise the client on the most appropriate type of e-bike. Customers need to be optimally informed not only on the actual range of their vehicle but also on how to manage their energy use and charging batteries. Consumers should be informed on the characteristics of the vehicles as well as on the related price/quality ratio. Currently, dealers, importers and bike repairers lack knowledge and expertise to provide the above mentioned service to their (potential) clients. This partnership project brought 6 countries together (BE, NL, UK, LT, CZ and DK) that worked on this issue by doing research, comparison, exchange of knowledge and expertise through train-the-trainer activities and discussions on training curricula and the integration of legislation into the training programme.